OCZ Vertex 3 Pro SandForce SF-2582 200GB SSD Preview

OCZ Vertex 3 Pro – Internals

Given that this is a beta engineering sample, what we see here is subject to change so keep that in mind as you read through.

Like previous generations, four screws are removed to pull away the shell and expose the PCB. On the shell are unusual metal plates that appear to be for heat dissipation.

On the bottom left is the large Cap-XX HZ202 super-capacitor that ensures that all writes are completed in the event of power interruption. Since this is an enterprise (i.e. server) class product, the stakes are a lot higher in terms of data integrity so having this feature adds an extra layer of protection although certainly will also add to the price. Note the OCZ branded PCB that is manufactured by them and not by a third party.

The Toggle Mode NAND flash is manufactured by Toshiba and of the 32nm variety. There are 16 total chips at 16GB in density each and elementary school math tells us that sums up to be 256GB total on board capacity.

On the other side of the PCB lies the jewel of the drive. The SandForce SF-2582 controller is basically the next generation SF-1500 controller, carrying the same great features as its predecessor with the DuraClass technology. It employs compression to boost performance and stores data in a highly secure AES-256/128 hardware encrypted format. Best of all, it’s SATA III (6Gbps) compliant which means no more bottleneck due to the interface.

If you look at the picture above you’ll notice that the SandForce controller is labeled SF-2682VA1-ES. At first we that this was a SF-2682 controller, but was told this by OCZ:

“These are early silicon and they only built 2682 for the first batch. 2582 firmware is running on it, so for all intents and purposes this is running as a 2582 and thats what we will ship in the Vertex3 Pro product. Im not sure how you want to convey this throughout the article.” – OCZ PR

So let’s see how this thing does in practical application.